The Homestead Challenge
Inspired by various challenges that came before me and the movie, "The Free State of Jones", plus some reality TV shows in which modern families have to live on the prairie. The aim of this challenge is to begin a city in the 19th or early 20th century with very little materials at hand and work your way to a thriving town as the Pioneers did in places such as Canada, the United States, and New Zealand. These pioneers are often immigrants from different places or people with little to lose, looking for a new beginning. The rules are similar to that of the rules of the Homestead Act of 1862 in the US, the Dominion Lands Act in 1872 in Canada, and the New Zealand Waste Lands Act in 1854. This challenge is best played with all expansion packs or with the Ultimate Collection.

The Basic Rules
1. There is no electricity, no running water, and no access to technology that wasnâ€™t invented prior to the year in which you decide to begin your challenge. Although you can start your challenge in any year you wish, it would make sense that you start it before these land Acts expired, and sometime after the Acts were passed. Technology will come to you as the years pass, and in some cases when the settlement meets certain requirements. For bathing, you have three options:
a) Bathe in a hot spring on the forest lot
b) Use a hack to bathe in a sink, or with a bucket of water
c) Use a hack that requires a bathtub to be filled with water from your inventory

2. Each member of your wagon party has a backstory to their lives, and many of them are trying to escape from the confines of the restrictive social order of Victorian and Edwardian society. The items they take with them will be restricted to what their social rank was when they left. For instance, if you roll a woman that was a former slave or servant, she would not have any luxury items on her that an upper class woman would own. Space on the wagon is limited, and only the most precious items would be taken along. You wonâ€™t be able to buy any luxury items until a shop that would sell luxuries is built in the town. For instance, you cannot buy a dresser once the wagon arrives until a turnery or furniture shop is built.

3. Only your host or hostess will be able to have a job which will be in politics. Everyone else will have to focus on developing their skills, adding to their wedding chests, and beginning their own homesteads. The only exception are the two careers from Sims Castaway stories- hunter or gatherer, and these careers must be quit once a sim moves out of the host house. Sims cannot marry or move out until they have produced enough goods to begin their own homesteads. While teenage marriages are allowed, teens are not allowed to legally marry until the age of sixteen. Single young women are not allowed to leave the host's house until the age of 21, as this was the legal age required to obtain a homestead.

4. In the beginning, only the host house will be played. Once sims begin their own homesteads the neighborhood will be rotated and each house will be played for one season. All homesteads will be played in accordance with the host, so that each lot will be experiencing the same seasons in succession. (Sim Wardrobe has a great hack that allows you to change seasons on the lot in your game.)

5. Two types of wagons will come to the settlement when you meet certain milestones- Special Wagons and Homestead Wagons. They will carry a certain number of sims from 1-6 sims each, except for Homestead Wagon #4, which will possibly have up to 8 sims on it (If you roll a number higher than 8, play with 8). There are no EA townies in the land that is to be settled, and no NPCS are allowed to be married. However, you can have them marry a sim Native at any point, but there are a set of requirements they must meet in order to do so. Ages of the sims arriving will vary. The first two homestead wagons may contain teenagers, the third wagon will only contain adults, and the forth wagon will possibly contain families. The special wagons will contain sims that are in a specialized field or career, and they will have different numbers of sims on them, depending on the wagon.

6. Once your settlers begin their own homestead, they will not be able to buy food after their initial food runs out. After a Trading Post is built they can buy canned goods, but because the trader comes very infrequently, they will only be able to make purchases just once per year. This challenge is all about farming and building something from nothing, just like the pioneers had to.

Time
The concept of time is important and you must develop some sort of system to mark the passage of time, as we all know the way Maxis has set it up doesnâ€™t make a lot of sense. There are various hacks in order to help you establish this, but ultimately itâ€™s up to you to decide how you want time to pass. You may want to let the seasons dictate the years, or you may want to base your year around a biological marker, such as the sim gestation period. I only ask that you stick to your own time rules, because you wonâ€™t be able to unlock a career such as Gamer if the year is 1900. It makes sense if the seasons also match up with the years and the time your sims remain pregnant.

Cheats, Hacks & Aspiration Rewards
All Maxis aspiration rewards can be used freely, with the exception of the genie lamp. The genie lamp can only be used once your sim starts their own homestead, but not before. In other words, the money from the lamp cannot go towards the homestead, but it can be used towards buying a business. Hacks that give sims a sexuality or alter the maxis sexuality as allowed, as well as hacks that prevent game corruption or spawning Maxis NPCS/townies. In fact, I recommend those hacks because your town should be nearly empty, except for your homesteaders, natives, and a few NPCS. However, you cannot cheat your way through gameplay using hacks that make life easier for your sims. Life for the homesteaders was hard, and using hacks and cheats to ease their burden beyond what the game gives you already is not allowed and defeats the purpose of the challenge.

Building Your Town
In the beginning, all homesteads will look similar to one another and will be built out of the same or similar materials, including the hostâ€™s house. I'm going to leave this part up to the player's discretion, but basically you want to remember that your settlement doesn't have access to a lot of building materials, and they need to use what they have. You cannot use materials that have yet to be unlocked below, because the town is neither producing these goods or has access to them. But your settlement can start off with wood, stone, thatch, any unpainted paneling. Once your new homesteaders produce enough to open their own shop or farm stand, they can open their own business. Once their business hits level 10, they unlock a career for the town which the next generation can work. In addition, many businesses that are at level 10 also unlock a material that your sim can use to decorate their homestead with and make it unique. The original settlers are only allowed to work the land, as that was the whole point of these land Acts, but their children will eventually be able to explore other avenues and get away from farming. Some businesses unlock more than one job, but you must place more than one of those business types. Here is a rundown of the jobs and businesses that are related, plus the new materials:

Getting Started
1. Create Your Host Sim and a pair of pets following the guidelines below, but skip roll #4 and #8. Build your hostâ€™s homestead on a 5x7 or 6X6 lot, complete with large plots for growing produce and a barn with animal stalls for raising animals. The hostâ€™s house should also contain objects that will help the settlers produce things, such as a sewing machine, an oven for baking, a flower stand, or objects the community has created that allow your sim to create a finished product, etc. Youâ€™ll also need to make sure the house has room for at least seven sims, including the host. Your host is the only upper class sim in the game, and the richest sim in your neighborhood. The host will be the one hands out deeds to homesteads (although not literally) and sells community lot deeds.

2. Create a community forest lot. This lot is where sims will gather up wood supplies, fell trees, fish, hunt, and gather foods from the wild. You can also build a hot spring used for community bathing. This lot will contribute to their Hope Chests and provide food and wood for their Hope Chests.

3. Create actual plots of empty land for the settlerâ€™s businesses and community lots and have the host buy them. Choose a wide variety of different sized lots. Once your homesteaders have successfully farmed the land, they will buy a deed to a community lot from your host.

4. Create a Claim Office. This is just a small community lot where deeds for community lots are on sale. Your Host will be the owner of this business, and all community lots will be initially owned by the host. Only playable sims are allowed to buy community lots.

5. Next, create a tribe of Native peoples that were there originally, before the government passed the legislation, these sims are different from anyone traveling on the wagons. Create separate living quarters consisting of four unmarried females and four unmarried males. These sims serve the purpose of acting as â€śtowniesâ€ť and can also be married, but you cannot play them as regulars until everyone in your last wagon finds homesteads for themselves, in which case they can be played as they are or they can become homesteaders in addition to your settlers. They can also be hired as employees. Use the Sim Creation Guide to help determine who they are, but skip roll #3 , #4 and #8 as all native sims are the similar to one another and come from the same tribe. You can give randomly assign them skill points and items in their inventory. I personally give some natives more items in their inventory than others.

5. Create your first wagon of settlers. Roll once to see how many sims will be on the first wagon. Roll again to see how many pets or animals will be on the wagon. (These can include animals such as farm animals, if you donâ€™t want to have the typical cat and dog.) Only animals such as Wolves can be tamed in the new settlement, and breeds that you develop yourself starting with the initial animals you bring. If you roll a 1 the first time, roll once more, as there needs to be at least two sims on your first wagon. Only adults and teens are allowed on the wagon, and they cannot be related to one another, but they can have ties to one another which you will determine. You can base their stories around what you roll. In some cases, youâ€™ll be able to personalize your sims and shape them. For each adult you roll, assign them two skills points. For each teen you roll, assign one skill point. For the first two wagons, your creation process will go like this:

Sim Creation Guide
Roll #1 Sex: Even- Female Odd- Male
Roll #2 Ages: 1-3 Teen 4-6 Adult
Roll (Dice Pair) #3 Ethic Background: The new lands in which the settlers have come to will soon be known all over the world as cultural â€śMelting Potsâ€ť. Therefore, itâ€™s important to determine where your settlerâ€™s are coming from as part of their background story.
2: Northern European 3: Northern African 4: Northern Asian 5: Southern Asian 6: Native to the Land 7: Southern African 8: Middle Eastern 9: Mixed Ethnicity 10: Southern European 11: Playerâ€™s Choice 12: Any Small Island
Roll #4 Socioeconomic Background: This determines quality and quantity each sim can have in their inventory, at the playerâ€™s discretion. 1-2: Slave, Indentured Servant or Former Slave (1 Item, poor quality) 3-4: Lower Class (5 Items, poor quality) 5: Lower Middle Class (6 Items of poor quality and 3 items of medium quality) 6: Middle Class (10 items medium quality)
Roll #5 Aspiration: 1- Family 2-Fortune 3- Romance 4- Pleasure 5- Knowledge 6-Popularity
Roll #6 Secondary Aspiration (repeat from above)
Roll #7 Dominant Personality Trait: You can shape your simâ€™s personality as much as you want to, but you must roll for the trait they have the most of. 1: Outgoing 2: Neat 3: Nice 4: Playful 5: Active 6: Two dominant traits (roll again)
Roll #8 Wagon Ties: This one is a little bit more complicated, as it determines whether or not sims will get a slight relationship boost towards the other members of the wagon party: (You can do this with SimPE or a hack.)
A. First, roll to see if your sim has ties with anyone on the wagon: Odd: Yes Even: No.
B. Then roll to see which sim it is, based on the order in which you created them. For instance, if you roll a 2, your sim will have ties with the second sim in the wagon you created. If you roll a number for a sim that doesnâ€™t exist, then the host will be the one that your sim has ties with.
C. Next, roll again to see what kind of ties they have. If this part doesnâ€™t make logical sense, roll again:
1: Family Friend or former neighbor: Your sim has known this sim from their former neighborhood. (+25 STR & LTR with Sim)
2. Chatty Passenger: This sim chatted excessively for the duration of the journey. (-10 STR)
3: Former employer/employee (+20 STR)
4: Crush: (+45 STR) This crush does not have to be reciprocated by the other sim.
5: Former Coworker: These two sims shared the same place of employment, or were forced in labor together. (+25 STR)
6: Distant Relative (+15 STR, +10 LTR) A cousinâ€™s cousinâ€¦..or a third cousin? The details are hazy.

Homestead Wagon #3 will only contain adults, so you do not need to roll for age.

For every adult, roll additionally:
Roll (Dice Pair) #7 Ethic Background: The new lands in which the settlers have come to will soon be known all over the world as cultural â€śMelting Potsâ€ť. Therefore, itâ€™s important to determine where your settlerâ€™s are coming from as part of their background story.
2: Northern European 3: Northern African 4: Northern Asian 5: Southern Asian 6: Native to the Land 7: Southern African 8: Middle Eastern 9: Mixed Ethnicity 10: Southern European 11: Playerâ€™s Choice 12: Any Small Island
Roll #8 Socioeconomic Background: This determines quality and quantity each sim can have in their inventory, at the playerâ€™s discretion. 1-2: Slave, Indentured Servant or Former Slave (1 Item, poor quality) 3-4: Lower Class (5 Items, poor quality) 5: Lower Middle Class (6 Items of poor quality and 3 items of medium quality) 6: Middle Class (15 items medium quality)

You must have at least one adult on the last wagon. You will be determining which children belong to which adult/adults, and their socioeconomic/ethnic background will match their parents, unless they are of mixed ethnicity. Add one skill point of your choice to your teen sims, and two skill points of your choice to your adult sims. The rest they will have to earn.

Marriage
For two sims to marry, they must fill their Hope Chest (inventory) with items that they have crafted. If a sim is of a lower class, they must work harder to have enough to be able to build a basic homestead than someone of the middle classes would. However, their socioeconomic status can easily be surpassed if they want to rise in status. This signifies the â€śSim Dreamâ€ť of being able to leave their pasts, and start a new life where rewards are given to those that work hard. These homesteader sims care nothing about the socioeconomic status of their prospective spouse and are free to marry whomever they wish, especially if they traveled out west. They value freedom, most of all, and everything that comes with it.
In the event that you find yourself with leftover single sims that have no attraction towards each other, can you force them into a â€śmarriage of convenienceâ€ť by using a hack, or have them marry a sim Native. In order to marry a sim Native, your settler must make friends with at least four other sims in the Native household, to simulate trust gained within the tribe, and a general acceptance of the marriage between the Native and your settler. Your Hope Chest must also have enough for the Two- Bedroom Homestead. If you are left with more males than females or vice versa by the time the last wagon comes there is a possibility that your sims have nobody to marry that matches their orientation. In that case your sim can build their homestead without getting married, and adopt a single orphan that will act as their ward and heir. However, they must wait until they reach middle age before adopting.

Building the Homestead
All lots must look similar to one another, and be built with the same materials available in the neighborhood. For instance, use rugged walls and floors to simulate using natural materials, or natural stone that is provided nearby. Paints, Stains, Wallpapers and tiles were considered luxuries and wonâ€™t be available until the town meets certain requirements. Essentially, you are free to build the homesteads as you wish, but they must be uniform or very similar to one another. The structures are simple, but built to last.

Sims must meet a checklist of skills and resources before they can get married and build a homestead. The primary resources will be wood and boxes of produce they themselves have produced on the forest and host lots. The boxes require two hacks from Sim Wardrobe, and for the wood you have a choice of two hacks (which I will link below). Household Wares are items such as furniture, crafted items, cooking pots and anything else your sims has produced or brought with them. Sims can combine what they have in their chests as well as skill points when they marry. Sims will be able to upgrade their homesteads after they are able to purchase a deed for a community lot, but they wonâ€™t be able to make any modifications until they have turned a profit from the land.
After each harvest you can tally up how much each homestead has made, and see who has had the most successful harvest from the homestead. Gardening hacks are not allowed, so this all must be done naturally, as it would in an un-modded game. You can reward the homestead that generates the most income at the end of the year by giving them each one skill point, or allowing them to buy something special via mail-order (catalog) that would not otherwise be available.
Using the Sun&Moon Giving Tree/All Fired Up sets, wood is broken down down like this:

Once you have built the house, you may purchase any additional furniture needed for children and/or pets, plus any basic candles for lighting. Unless it is listed above, any other objects must come from personal inventories or have been created, or are carried at an owned business lot.

Additional Buildings and Careers
1. After two homesteads are built, your host can build the settlement [i]Trading Post. This unlocks the Lawcareer for future generations and establishes your neighborhood as a settlement. Additionally, it enables sims to buy a small selection of canned goods, and clothing. However, because the trading post gets a limited amount of shipments in, only one item of clothing per sim per year can be bought, and canned goods can only be bought once per year. These canned foods can be used to help your settlers survive throughout the winter. This is when the Homestead Wagon #2 will arrive. Consult the Sim Creation Guide to determine how many settlers have come, and exactly who they are.

2. After two businesses and four homesteads are built, one of your wealthier households can build a Schoolhouse and sell it back to the government after it is complete. This unlocks the Education career, but also allows for the next generation to attend school. (They can attend Maxis school if you wish, or you can open up the building as an actual school using hacks.) This is also the time for the Homestead Wagon #3 to settle in your town. Consult the Sim Creation Guide to determine how many settlers have come, and exactly who they are. Homestead Wagon #3 only has adults on it. Special Wagon #1 is a separate wagon with the single adult school teacher on it, plus 2 optional animals. The schoolteacher can either work in the Education career, or teach your sims in the schoolhouse using hacks. Since the teacher doesnâ€™t know anyone in the settlement, skip roll #3 and #8 regarding wagon ties when creating your schoolteacher and add 2 additional logic points.

3. After four businesses and six homesteads are built, one of your wealthier households can build a Public Library and sell it back to the government upon it's completion. This unlocks the Politics career for future generations.

4. After five businesses and seven homesteads are built, one of your wealthier households builds a small Doctorâ€™s Office, with the office on the bottom and the residence on top- the size is up to you. Put the location of the Doctorâ€™s Office in the main part of the settlement. Then create Special Wagon #2 with the adult doctor on it and to 6 sims on it as part of the doctorâ€™s family, with 4 optional animals. This unlocks the medical career for future generations. You can have your doctor earn extra money by attending sick or expectant sims, and then have your sims pay the doctor a small fee, or you can just have them work in the medical field as a regular job. When you create your doctor, follow the rules for Homestead Wagon #4, except the doctor's ethnic and socioeconomic background will match those of their family. So, if you doctor is of North African ancestry and is middle class, the doctor's family will also be North African and middle class. Add two additional cleaning and two additional mechanical skills to your doctor.

4. After six businesses and nine homesteads are built, a member of the host family persuades the government to build a small Military Outpost in the settlement. This unlocks the career of Military for future generations and your settlement is now hereby proclaimed a village! This ushers in Special Wagon #3 , which contains up to six teen/adult men employed in the military. Follow the first set of rules for sim creation, but skill roll #2 and assign them each two additional body points.

5. After eight businesses and twelve homesteads are built, one of your wealthier households can build a Dance Pavilion (before 1900) or Dance Hall (after 1900) and sell it back to the government. This is a hall used for socializing and matchmaking with live music performers, but isnâ€™t owned by anyone in particular. This unlocks the Dance and Show Business careers for future generations. This is also the time for the fourth and Final Homestead Wagon to settle in your town. Consult the Sim Creation Guide to determine how many settlers have come, and exactly who they are.

6. After you have ten community lots (including businesses, but also other unowned lots) built and at least fourteen homesteads, the government builds a Sheriff's Office and Jail, which opens up the Law Enforcement career for future generations. The jail should be on the bottom level, while living quarters for your deputy should be on the top level. Pick two sims with the most amount of body points from your second generation to occupy this building and/or work the Law Enforcement career- one as a sheriff and one as a deputy. Your village has now become a town!

7. At twelve community lots (including businesses, but also other unowned lots) and sixteen homesteads, the richest sim in the neighborhood builds several University buildings in the town nearby, which unlocks all careers that havenâ€™t yet been unlocked. Careers that havenâ€™t been invented yet donâ€™t actually get unlocked until you hit the year they were invented in real life. Congratulations, your town is known throughout the nation as a smashing success and model for all other nations to envy! This marks the end of the challenge, and you can now return to "normal" gameplay!

I have updated this to change the ages of the sims in the wagon. Now Wagon #3 will contain adults only. Wagon #4 will contain sims of all ages, adapted for later gameplay when you need children already born. You can also get an additional wagon with four additional military men on the wagon, but this is optional. I've also included a wood breakdown for wood units, and rules about single teen females. If there is something I can do to make this challenge more interesting to people, let me know.

Hi! I'm considering doing this challenge. Just wanted to ask one thing: I happen to be a fantasy worldbuilder who's not into historical accuracy, and I know from your posts at PBK (I'm also active over there) that you're a history lover and not into fantasy. Would you mind if I played this in a way that works for me and posted about it here? I really admire all the research and effort that goes into playing a historical game but... it's not my thing. Let me know either way

Hi! I'm considering doing this challenge. Just wanted to ask one thing: I happen to be a fantasy worldbuilder who's not into historical accuracy, and I know from your posts at PBK (I'm also active over there) that you're a history lover and not into fantasy. Would you mind if I played this in a way that works for me and posted about it here? I really admire all the research and effort that goes into playing a historical game but... it's not my thing. Let me know either way

This is very true, lol! I play fantasy with games like Skyrim, so I consider Sims to be the more realistic one. But to answer your question, I think it depends, what exactly did you have in mind? I think that the rules and the items that are needed, such as the wood and such, really should be kept. Also, the lot sizes are very reasonable and not too big, nor too small. Because after all, that's part of the challenge that is *the* challenge. It's all about making something out of nothing, like some of these people actually did. If you just moved out your sims from the host's house without any supplies or skills, there really isn't any point to that, right? I think it really depends on how you're going to modify it, but I'm up for having some things changed around to suit people's needs, especially if they aren't going for historical realism.
Another part of the challenge is actually making rules and sticking to them! I find that I struggle because I want to cheat, lol! I had to take Inseminator out of the game because it made cheating so damn easy. Let me know what you want to keep, and what you want to change.

Basically I just wanted to alter the flavour of the setting/backstory and leave the rules more or less as you wrote them. I will definitely be sticking to the spirit of the original idea as the building something out of nothing is one of the things that drew me in

Basically I just wanted to alter the flavour of the setting/backstory and leave the rules more or less as you wrote them. I will definitely be sticking to the spirit of the original idea as the building something out of nothing is one of the things that drew me in

Well than by all means, yes! I would love that, and I would love to see what you come up with and how you adapt it- because the whole idea of creating something out of nothing is exactly opposite of what EAxis come up with for sims, so it's nice to challenge oneself like that. Other people's fantasy worlds fascinate me. I think we have the opposite views about fantasy/historical hoods. I admire them but I wouldn't want to do my own, even though I've tried it in the past. It's like how you feel about historical hoods.
Can't wait to see what you come up with

Thanks! I'm planning on doing the challenge with a group of Sims from my long-established world of Kulo Seeri, having them branch off on their own to build a new life. Should be able to start setting up tomorrow!

I hope you feel better soon, dear! Also, just a question, in the rules you have, "Seedling= 25 Wood/Large Chopped Wood=50 wood/Small Chopped Wood= 25 wood" when using the Sun & Moon trees. What qualifies as the Large and Small chopped wood? So far I've been using the branches as the small chopped wood, and the logs as the large chopped wood.

Lisrouge- Yes, the host can get married. They are essentially like the mayor of the town, so they are the ones trying to get the town/village/settlement started. None of the rules about beginning their own homestead really apply to them, as they are the ones that will be building some of the initial lots in your development, and the ones providing temporary housing for all your wagon passengers. Anyone that marries a host does not have to bring anything extra, (such as wood) beyond their initial Hope Chest. However, they do need to develop their own skills necessary to support the farm, such as gardening, fishing, cooking, cleaning, etc. I will update the rules soon with more information about this, if need be.

Lauri- Thank you, I'm feeling much better now and have resumed most normal activities, although I'm lacking in energy. To answer your question, basically, sims are able to chop down entire trees, and they can further chop the logs into firewood bundles using another object. I suggest you read up on everything that those items do, so you can get familiar with how you can use them in game to help your sims get ahead. Once you have a sim chop down a tree, you'll understand better as to how it works.

Lauri- Thank you, I'm feeling much better now and have resumed most normal activities, although I'm lacking in energy. To answer your question, basically, sims are able to chop down entire trees, and they can further chop the logs into firewood bundles using another object. I suggest you read up on everything that those items do, so you can get familiar with how you can use them in game to help your sims get ahead. Once you have a sim chop down a tree, you'll understand better as to how it works.

I'm glad you're feeling better. I appreciate your taking the time to answer my question. I have cut down trees, several, so I do know what you mean. However, it also takes 20 logs to get the bigger bundle. So does it really make sense to make a bigger bundle? If I'm reading the rules right, the smaller logs count as 25 wood, and the larger 50. So if you took 20 small logs to make a large log you'd be taking a 500 wood bundle and changing it into a 50 wood bundle. Is that what you meant? Was the 50 a typo? Should it be 500? I've quoted the rules below just so you can see what I'm referring to, without having to scroll.

Quote:

Originally Posted by child_of_air

Using the Sun&Moon Giving Tree set, wood is broken down down like this:

Hi Again Lauri,
I think you might be missing a step. Did you read the instructions included with the set? In any case, once you have a log you can cut it down further into a chopped wood bundle, using the ax object. And it's this "chopped wood bundle" that I'm referring to. One large one is 50 wood, and the smaller firewood bundles are 25 wood. They updated the set some time ago, so please check to make sure you have the correct version as well, and be sure to read all the instructions. Hopefully that will make more sense. Here's the link, Frac also just released a butcher set as well, so you probably want to check that out.

I'm glad you're feeling better. I appreciate your taking the time to answer my question. I have cut down trees, several, so I do know what you mean. However, it also takes 20 logs to get the bigger bundle. So does it really make sense to make a bigger bundle? If I'm reading the rules right, the smaller logs count as 25 wood, and the larger 50. So if you took 20 small logs to make a large log you'd be taking a 500 wood bundle and changing it into a 50 wood bundle. Is that what you meant? Was the 50 a typo? Should it be 500? I've quoted the rules below just so you can see what I'm referring to, without having to scroll.

Again, I appreciate your answer especially when you don't have much energy. I hope your Holidays and New Year are great.

Hi Again Lauri,
I think you might be missing a step. Did you read the instructions included with the set? In any case, once you have a log you can cut it down further into a chopped wood bundle, using the ax object. And it's this "chopped wood bundle" that I'm referring to. One large one is 50 wood, and the smaller firewood bundles are 25 wood. They updated the set some time ago, so please check to make sure you have the correct version as well, and be sure to read all the instructions. Hopefully that will make more sense. Here's the link, Frac also just released a butcher set as well, so you probably want to check that out.

Oh okay, so we have to have the firewood set as well as the tree set? I didn't realize that, I thought we just needed the tree set. I had the tree set and was reading all the instructions from that. I think that is where the confusion lay.

Oh okay, so we have to have the firewood set as well as the tree set? I didn't realize that, I thought we just needed the tree set. I had the tree set and was reading all the instructions from that. I think that is where the confusion lay.

Lauri

Technically, you don't have to, but it does make things easier. Besides, what would you actually do with all those logs if you can't use them for firewood (besides sell them)? An alternative would be to use the trees and logs from Affinity Sims by Rebecka. I provided a link after I described the challenge and all it's rules.

In any case, once you have a log you can cut it down further into a chopped wood bundle, using the ax object. And it's this "chopped wood bundle" that I'm referring to. One large one is 50 wood, and the smaller firewood bundles are 25 wood.

I just have one more clarification, please. When you cut 1 log up it becomes 1 large stack of split wood. You then take it to the other converter and convert 1 large stack of split wood into 20 bundles of firewood. So, does 1 firewood bundle count as 25 wood, or is it the whole group of 20 that counts as 25 wood?

I just have one more clarification, please. When you cut 1 log up it becomes 1 large stack of split wood. You then take it to the other converter and convert 1 large stack of split wood into 20 bundles of firewood. So, does 1 firewood bundle count as 25 wood, or is it the whole group of 20 that counts as 25 wood?

Lauri

I think 1 firewood bundle costs 25. At least, I think that, and hope so, because I already started playing and some already have homesteads. XD

Also, I have a silly question. How do I make an apothecary? Do I make actual medicine? Or do I sell herbs and stuff like that? XD Found the answer.

Okay, so I made some updates on wood- you no longer have to get All Fired Up to get wood, as each log will count as 50 wood, the same as the Large Stack of Split Wood. I always have my sims split wood though, simply because it raises body skill and makes it seem more realistic, but you can choose not to do this. House furniture that comes with each homestead has been updated. Your sim will be building their bed, as sticking it in an inventory can cause problems with the bed. So, beds will now be build with the home, along with a wash basin and outdoor lanterns, and any child/pet furniture. I also added new window limits, as when I was building the large middle class homestead, I thought it was too few windows. You also now must build a Claims Office so that your sims can buy community lots directly from the host. Since this is a new rule, don't worry about your sims that already have community lots. Just make new sims purchase deeds from the office when they are ready and able. I should have put this in the original rules, but forgot about it. Please read through everything and let me know if anything else needs to be clarified. I'd also love to see your hoods if you are interested in posting pics. Thanks!

Ahhh. Well, good luck! I've managed to get two wagons through the host house. And we're starting on getting businesses to unlock things. Good too, because I've got families with 4 and 5 kids in a one room house and there's not a lot of room for beds. They tend to sleep in shifts.

But spring is coming, so a chance to make more produce boxes to go with the wood and household goods they've collected! I'm also going to have to put ponds on their lots, since they can't get badges on community lots.